Romance and Exhibitionism
I’m sure you’ve all seen this video that’s been making rounds, in which a dude and his friends dance to a stupid Bruno Mars song in the middle of Disney and then the dude proposes to his girlfriend, who is so mortified that she can’t even take her hands away from her face, let alone take off her sunglasses. How fucking romantic, huh? God, I hope that I can’t see my girlfriends eyes when I propose to her. Idyllic.
All of the comments I’ve seen from people I know say that this is the sweetest thing that has ever happened ever in this world. Apparently many of them cried over it. Which is weird, because it’s just people dancing and then a guy proposing. I don’t even want to know what would happen to these criers if they actually developed a connection with these characters, instead of just seeing him dance and her bashfully hide her face. Would they explode?
The girls I dated in high school didn’t require any grandiose public displays of affection. Then in college, Facebook came along and girls got mad when I didn’t post on their walls regularly, telling them how much I missed them and how excited I was to see them, which is stupid (mostly because it was almost never true, but I digress). If I miss you or am excited to see you, I’ll tell you. Privately. Fuck you, Facebook.
Doesn’t having a few million people share in a special moment cheapen it? Why does our generation feel such an overwhelming need for the approval of others? If I’m doing something special for someone special, I’m not doing it for my gratification or for the praise of the general public.
I’m not one of those old-school superstitious people who believe that having your photo taken steals a part of your soul. But doesn’t having millions of people look at it make it less special?
